Following his first novel, Poorhouse Fair (1959), he created his remarkable character Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom in Rabbit, Run (1960). He went on to write three more "Rabbit" novels, Rabbit Redux (1971) and the Pulitzer-winning Rabbit is Rich (1981) and Rabbit at Rest (1990).

The writer of short stories, essays, poetry, and criticism, Updike observed, "How quickly we become history while trying to be news."

L.A. Timescritic Katherine Stephen said Updike "had earned an imposing stance on the literary landscape." With skill and substance, he created precise metaphors and vivid prose. With pleasure and provocation, he captured life's mini moments in fiction.

"Art is like baby shoes. When you coat them with gold, they can no longer be worn," Updike once said.

With fiction that revealed autobiographical elements, Updike explored the challenges of middle-class America. His troubled characters are self-obsessed and irresponsible as they search for life's meaning amid divorce, infidelity, and questionable morality.